Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal

I was so saddened to hear that hip hop legend Guru was in a coma after suffering a heart attack at the tender age of 43. I'm not sure of his prognosis, but apparently he has survived an operation and is in a hospital in NYC.

Guru is from the hip hop band Gang Starr and also produced a series of hip hop/jazz fusion albums called Jazzmatazz. Needless to say, with hip hop and jazz being my favorite genres of music, I was obsessed with these albums and while living in San Francisco had the pleasure of seeing a few of his live shows. I believe I was the first on the dance floor shaking my thang, or at least pretending I knew how.

A few years later, in Los Angeles, I was going to see a movie with some friends when I noticed a line outside the Virgin record store on Sunset. I peeked my head in and saw that it was Guru, signing his new installment of the Jazzmatazz series. I grabbed my friends and jumped in line. As it progressed, I wondered what I was going to say to him, and then when I was finally in front of him I found myself tongue tied. I'm sure I stammered something like, "Oh my God, I love your work. I saw you in SF. You are the best. You are my favorite Your music is brilliant." He didn't really look at me, he was busy signing my CD and a picture of himself, but he was smiling. He returned my loot, shook my hand and sent me on my way.

A few seconds later I thought I heard Guru call out my name. It couldn't be me. There must have been another Melissa that he knew. I heard him call it out a second time. I turned around just to see and indeed he was pointing to me. He waved me over when we made eye contact. "What should I do?" I said under my breath to my friend who was standing next to me. "Go!" she said.

I walked back over.

"Melissa," he said. "I just want to say 'thank you' for all the nice things you just said to me."

"Aw," I said. "I meant every word. Your music means a lot to me."

"And you mean a lot to me," he said. "It's beautiful that my music touches you."

And he stood up to hug me.

I was stunned. And moved. And a bit giddy.

"Peace, Melissa," he said with a wink.

When I rejoined my friends they were cracking up.

Can you imagine that happening with someone like Kanye West? 50 Cent?

I am saying a little prayer that Guru recovers. Meanwhile, I've got all of his CD's in my player right now and my cat is watching curiously as I practice my moves in my living room.